Will the Mag Mile be hog heaven for new Harley-Davidson store?

Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson is rolling over to the Magnificent Mile, where it will sell biker gear and apparel to the masses walking the busy shopping street.

A Michigan firm that operates two Harley dealerships in the suburbs leased 6,200 square feet of retail space at 664-670 N. Michigan Ave., said Paul Zucker, principal at Chicago-based City Real Estate Inc., who brokered the deal for the Terra Foundation for American Art, a non-profit that controls the space.

Most of the store, about 5,700 square feet, will be on the property's second floor, accessible through an entrance between Tommy Bahama and Loft stores in the building, a recently completed development that includes the high-end Ritz-Carlton Residences on its upper floors, according to Mr. Zucker.

The deal is yet another example of North Michigan Avenue's appeal to retailers eager to showcase their brands and sell products to throngs of tourists, local residents and downtown office workers.

'WHERE ELSE WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?'

“Harley-Davidson is obviously one of the most recognized brands in the world,” said Luke Molloy, senior director in the Chicago office of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. who isn't involved in the Harley store. “Especially in the Midwest, where else would you want to be but Michigan Avenue?”

Fox Powersports, a unit of a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based company, leased the Mag Mile space. The planned store marks something of a return to the street for Harley-Davidson, which under a different owner for years operated a shop at Rush and Ohio streets, on the western side of the Shops of North Bridge mall. But fast-growing burger chain Shake Shack leased that space.

Diane Maher, president of Fox Powersports, said her company acquired Harley dealerships in Glenview and near Libertyville in February and was determined to find a Michigan Avenue location for another store. She said the previous ownership group didn't renew the lease for the store at Rush and Ohio because of the sale to Fox.

“There are a lot of travelers who come in from out of the country and out of the state to visit and a vacation, and it's a brand they're looking for,” she said. The store will sell biker equipment, boots, apparel and other items, but no motorcycles.

CHEAPER RENTS

The second-floor shop, meanwhile, gave Fox a chance to get on the Mag Mile with rents cheaper than a ground-floor spot. Ms. Maher declined to discuss specific numbers.

“This one just really felt right to us, mostly because it was affordable,” she said. “The majority of it is on the second floor – that was pretty much a driver.”

An executive for the Terra Foundation was unavailable. Terra controls the space through a lease with the property's owner, a venture of White Plains, New York-based Acadia Realty Trust. An Acadia executive declined to comment.

Last year, Terra sold the property, an 18,000-square-foot retail condominium, to Acadia for more than $86 million. The non-profit agreed to lease the space from Acadia in order to sell the property for its full value, as if there were a tenant already paying rent in the vacant second-floor area, Mr. Zucker said.

'RIGHT BLEND'

“The space had the right blend of size, visibility and pricing to make it attractive for Harley-Davidson,” he said.

The Harley store is expected to open early next year, according to Ms. Maher.

A different unit of her firm, meanwhile, broke ground this summer on a three-story, 145,000-square-foot auto dealership at 2501 N. Elston Ave. on the North Side.

Apparel is on display in a Harley dealership in South San Francisco, California. (Bloomberg photo)